With Cyclocross season well underway, it was once again time for a perennial monster on the calendar, Jingle Cross Rock.
For those who have never heard of it, Jingle Cross is a three day cross festival held in Iowa City, IA at the Johnson county fairgrounds. It features Christmas themed obstacles all centered on the Dr. Seuss book How the Grinch Stole Christmas. That means Yule Logs, Whoville, and of course the infamous Mt. Crumpit. The Yule Logs are a set of tightly spaced telephone poles forcing riders to dismount and run almost like tires.
Whoville is approximated by tight turns in, out and around the cow barns with a sand pit as well. Mt. Crumpit is the massive hill, in the background. Sometimes riders run up it, sometimes they climb the steep side, sometimes the long back side, and it’s always good for a white knuckle descent. With rain in the forecast, this year was shaping up to be one to remember.
Friday always starts off the festivities with the night race. Known for the amazing party atmosphere, Friday in itself is a great race. And as always, KS Energy Servies/Team Wisconsin came out in force. In the men’s cat 3 race, Fast Freddy came away with a 26th place. Then in the Masters 45+, the two Daves, Eckel and Dino finished 18th and 17th respectively. Then Tedd Jacobson grabbed a top 10 with 9th place. Tyson had a great ride in the masters 35+ finishing 6th place.
We finished the night up with the Men’s UCI elite race. Before the race, Bryan Fosler had a crash in warm up and could not start. Alex Martin had a good start but after a crash in the barn sand pit and a broken derailleur hanger he was unable to finish. Joe Maloney, after a good start, moved up through the pack and finished 13th.
Saturday saw the arrival of a few more riders, and a new course. Saturday’s course included a new brutal climb up the backside of the Mt Crumpit that seemed to go on and on. This made the course harder than it has ever been. In the masters 45+, Dave Eckel came away with 26th place and Dave Dineen finished 24th. Tom Winkle finished 21st just ahead of the Daves and Tedd Jacobson finished a strong 7th. In the masters 35+ race Tyson finished just off the lead pack for a 10th place. In the juniors race, Harrison “H” Winkle took a top 5 with a 5th place finish. He then took the line again in the Men’s elite cat 3 race. He finished 39th just behind Freddy Derocher who finished 31st. Finally when the UCI elite men took off the wind had picked up. Feeling better from his crash, and taped up, Bryan Fosler hit the course and finished 43rd, just in front of Alex Martin in 44th. Joe Maloney finished 26th.
Sunday is considered the big day. The final day sees everyone feeling tired from 2 days of racing and the UCI elite races are a C1, bigger points, and bigger money. In the masters 45+ Dave Dineen finished 19th behind Dave Eckel who finished 15th and Tom Winkle in 14th. Tedd Jacobson finished 6th, finishing a great weekend. In the masters 35+ Tyson had a weekend best matching, 6th place. H decided to focus on the Mens 3 race and for good reason, he finished 16th. Freddy finished 28th. In the Category 1 UCI elite races, Alex Martin suffered another mechanical, DNFing because of a broken chain. Bryan Fosler finished 50th place while Joe rolled in for 22nd place.
Jingle Cross marks a big change in the season. Before Jingle, it’s all about racing, but after it’s all about training and gearing up for nationals. And that’s whats up next for us. Look out for that coming in January.